


sweet like sugar tea, baby you're too good to me

by orphan_account



Category: Twenty One Pilots, joshler - Fandom
Genre: Abelism, Alternate Universe - High School, Autistic Josh, Gen, M/M, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Transphobia, southern tyler, trans josh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-26 01:58:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9856838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "some kids are assholes, sugah." josh rolled his eyes."that doesn't make it right." he sounded hurt. tyler frowned and caressed his face softly."hey, baby, 'course it don't. i didn't mean nothin' like that, doll." josh blushed and tried to suppress a smile, which just made his look like he was gonna throw up. tyler laughed, and josh grinned, shoving at his chest."oh, fuck you and your stupid southern charm!"





	1. southern asshole arrives

**Author's Note:**

> tw for abelism and transphobia (not from tyler, brendon, debby, or jenna)

"hey, bren, did you ever end up getting that girl's number?" josh asked. 

the two boys were lazing around on a picnic blanket in some park that brendon had sex in once instead of going to school. two crushed beer cans lay on the ground next to them, along with brendon's shirt and josh's binder. both teenagers were slick with sweat. 

"nah." josh cocked an eyebrow at his friend. "she's a registered republican. no way is my pansexual ass gonna screw a trump supporter." he groaned and leaned back.

"school should've been cancelled today," josh mumbled. "i don't know how anyone could work like this." brendon snorted.

"yeah, i wouldn't be surprised if the entire senior class skipped today." brendon nodded, picking at a scab on his knee. 

josh pulled a sticker off the blanket and chuckled. brendon looked up.

"i'm flattered. you spent a whole 99 cents on me." brendon frowned and snatched the sticker away from him.

"lemme see that!!" sure enough, the blanket didn't even cost him a dollar. he rolled his eyes. "yeah, well, i paid tax too, right? and i snuck us those beers, so that counts as something," he argued, sticking the pricetag to josh's forehead. the shorter boy flinched.

"hey, what's that for?!" brendon cackled.

"now every pretty girl can see just how much you're worth." josh grinned.

"plus tax?"

"plus tax."

just then, a boy drove by on a bicycle. he was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt- josh couldn't even begin to imagine how sweaty he must've been under those layers. not that he wanted to, it was just some stranger. he was pretty attractive, though.

brendon whistled lowly and nudged josh's side. he raised his hands to his mouth, preparing to prove to josh that he was as much of a dick as the other jocks. 

"hey, kitty, you wanna come over here and purr for us?" josh groaned and pinched brendon's thigh.

"don't be an asshole, bren-"

"hey, bet you'd look real sweet on your knees!!" the boy on the bike halted to a stop and kicked his kickstand. brendon's eyes were wild.

"what'd you say t'me?" he had a thick southern accent, and josh was frankly terrified of any pissed off southerner. the man placed his hands on his hips and smirked at brendon. "what's wrong, kitty? cat got ya tongue?" 

josh barked out a short laugh. brendon just sat in shock. 

"i, um." he ran a hand through his hair. "i didn't expect you to..."

"pull over?" he hummed a little, shaking his head. "action's always come with consequences, doll. think b'fuh ya speak." 

josh howled with laughter, and the boy glared at him. 

"enjoying the show?" he spat. "nice sticker."

josh stopped laughing. he could feel his face heating up, and he was positive that his ears were red. he fumbled to take the sticker off his forehead.

"is that all? because i'd really like to finish my bike ride." neither said anything. he raised his eyebrows in satisfaction and strolled back over to where his bicycle stood. 

"hey! i'll see you at school?" brendon hollered. the other boy didn't even pause, climbing onto his seat.

"not if i have any luck," he mumbled. and with that, he pedaled off. 

"well," brendon breathed out once the two had sat in silence for long enough. "shit."

\----------------------

high school (for tyler, anyways) has never been a good experience. it took him until the beginning of senior year to get used to it, and that's when his parents decided they needed to get divorced, and his mom moved them all the way from their home in texas to some small city in rhode island. 

and it was cold. 

his mom hated it there. "too many 'alternative' lifestyle choices," she said. which meant that she saw a gay couple in the grocery store and decided to let it ruin her life. 

he didn't mind it, to be honest. there was a lot of stores he could stop into after school. and the school seemed pretty small, even though it was somehow a lot more... stereotypical than the one he went to in texas. like something out of a movie.

sure enough, his point was further proven on the first day of school. just by glancing around his homeroom, he could easily detect the multitude of different cliques seated in the classroom.

a couple of goths sat in the back of the room, sharing a cigarette that tyler was damn well sure wasn't allowed on school grounds.

some pretty looking girls cluttered the area at the front of the room, some even going as far to sit on the teacher's desk. they seemed nice, but if any high school movies had taught him anything, it's that the pretty girls are mean.

some kids wearing baggy black t-shirts (each promoting a different sci-fi and/or horror film) sat in the back corner. he wasn't sure what group it was. it seemed like a mix of theatre nerds, geeks, and punks. he noted that the boy with lip piercings from the park wasn't there.

and then there were, of course-

"hey, kitty!"

jocks.

tyler groaned under his breath as he locked eyes with the shirtless guy from the park. except, he wasn't shirtless now. in fact, he was wearing a baggy basketball uniform that more than likely hadn't been washed for weeks.

and, oh, would you look at that. the punk kid was there, too. huh.

"frick and frack!" tyler exclaimed, scoffing. "fancy meeting ya'll here." 

"'ya'll?'" the basketball boy repeated. "where are you from, florida?" 

"texas," tyler spat, standing up. lucky for him, he was about an inch taller than the jock. "so don't fuck with me, sweetheart." brendon smiled nervously.

"okay, okay, i'm fine with that." his eyes moved downward to the slip in tyler's hand. "is that your schedule?" he asked, pointing to it.

tyler blinked. why did it matter? he didn't they'd have any classes together. his mother signed him up for all honors classes, and while this kid seemed to have enough common sense to lay off, tyler seriously doubted he cared enough to get into good classes. 

"sure," he said, figuring he'd hesitated long enough to let the boy know that he could care less whether or not they had the same classes. to be honest, though, when his face lit up with joy as he skimmed over the paper, tyler fought the urge to get on his knees and pray to the lord that it wasn't because they had the same schedule. he grit his teeth.

"josh! you got the same schedule as kitty!" the punk kid (who tyler assumed was josh) had been silent until that point, leaning against the wall and twirling a toothpick around with his tongue. but now he seemed to perk up a little, looking over the other boy's shoulder in curiosity. 

"no shit," he breathed out, smiling a little. brendon grinned knowingly.

"well, that settles it. now we have to get along, kitty." tyler scowled.

"m'name ain't 'kitty.' it's tyler." brendon raised an eyebrow and him.

"well, tyler, i'm brendon," he said, sticking his hand out for tyler to shake. he didn't take it. brendon shrugged. "and this is my partner in crime, josh."

while he hated to admit it, brendon and josh actually seemed really friendly. but, as he well knew, "friendly" does not equate to "nice." he smiled mockingly.

"i'm charmed." josh opened up his mouth, obviously wanting to say something, but the bell interrupted him. 

"see ya, kitty." tyler rolled his eyes. 

"hey, try not to embarrass yourself," brendon winked at josh, walking out of the classroom. 

josh's face flushed, and he tried to hide it behind his my chemical romance hoodie. tyler noticed that he got flustered easily. 

"c'mon, i'll show you where first period is," he mumbled. he had a surprisingly soft voice, compared to brendon's shakingly loud one. 

"don't you have a backpack?" tyler asked, hoisting his own heavy bag over his shoulder. josh's brow furrowed.

"i don't really... do the, uh, normal classwork," he muttered, seemingly hurt. tyler winced. 

"sore subject," he thought. "don't bring up classwork again." some of the popular girls from before were giggling behind tyler.

"didn't you notice the lisp?" one of them tittered. "she's mentally stupid." 

ouch. tyler was right about them being mean. josh looked pained.

"'she?'" he questioned.

"let's go," josh said, tugging at his sleeve. despite being a good nine inches shorter than tyler, he was pretty strong, and managed to pull him out of the classroom. 

and it was all good and well, until he realized that he was being pulled away from the classrooms and towards the entrance of the school.

"woah, woah!" he dug his heels into the ground, stopping them. josh turned around to scowl at him.

"come on, dude, we're skipping."

"listen, sweetheart, that's real... nice of you, but im in deep shit if i miss a day." he wriggled out of josh's grip, earning a glare from the short boy.

"fine. have a nice time trying to find your class," he spat, storming out of the school. tyler whistled lowly.

"boy's gotta lot of shit headin' his way," tyler muttered. "okay, now, where's this classroom?"


	2. on parties, boys, and getting to know josh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “so you’ll come?” he asked.  
> his mother would never agree to that, but she was asleep by 8:30 on a “restless” night. he could sneak out. and it could be a good way to connect with some of his peers.
> 
> “will josh be there?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRG THIS TOOK SO LONG i’ll try to start writing more i just had some internet issues <3

back in texas, no one ever threw parties. not fun ones, at least. not where he lived.

in fact, the only party tyler ever attended consisted of three cheerleaders on their phones, one girl dressed in all black smoking in the corner, and a couple of guys in letterman jackets playing beer pong. he left after fifteen minutes, and then proceeded to get slapped for being around an alcoholic substance.

(as if he didn’t know his dad had to get drunk to please her. she was such a hypocrite. he hated her.)

somehow, parties in rhode island seemed so much more interesting.

brendon invited him during homeroom. josh conveniently left to “discuss homework” with another teacher. tyler knew he was ignoring him, of course. they shared a schedule. josh didn’t have any homework. his teachers cut him a lot of slack.

“kitty!” brendon exclaimed when he walked in. drenched with rain, by the way. he’d never had to wear more than a light coat before! he didn’t know he needed to walk to school clad head-to-toe in rubber and carrying an umbrella.

“hog,” tyler responded. brendon’s brow furrowed. “oh, sorry, i should nickname you after an animal that reflects YOUR appearance,” he said, faking confusion. brendon shot him a glare.

“haha, funny,” he replied. “listen, i’m throwing a little get-together tonight. to celebrate homecoming?” tyler raised his eyebrows.

“that this weekend?” he asked. brendon smiled proudly.

“happened this tuesday, actually. we won.” tyler was a little impressed, to be honest. but he wouldn’t show it.

“oh, you play football? i thought you were just in costume.” brendon grinned.

“so you’ll come?” he asked.  
his mother would never agree to that, but she was asleep by 8:30 on a “restless” night. he could sneak out. and it could be a good way to connect with some of his peers.

“will josh be there?” he asked curiously.

“josh doesn’t go to parties,” brendon said. the bell rang, and tyler shook his head and swung his bag over his back. brendon grabbed his shoulder. “but... i might be able to convince him?”he didn’t sound too sure. tyler squinted.

“sure, i’ll be there. gimme your address afta school,” he said. brendon opened his mouth. “-ah!” tyler said, raising his hand. “afta school.”

\----------------------

josh didn’t skip school. which was odd, considering that he’s only seen him attend class all of three times during the two weeks tyler had been going to his new school.

“hey,” he said to him, offering a little smile. josh’s ears went red, and he put his hood up. at least he was acknowledging him?

he didn’t know why he was so dependent on getting attention from josh. brendon seemed to be pretty happy with his presence. shouldn’t josh have warmed up to him by now?

whatever. it didn’t matter. he didn’t know anything about josh, so he shouldn’t care. they got off on a rough start, and now he was counting on being able to fix that. there was nothing weird about it. he was overanalyzing the situation, as always. 

\----------------------

climbing out of the window wasn’t the hard part. he’d tied together bedsheets and carefully escape his room so many times that he’d practically memorized the routine.

no, climbing out of the window wasn’t hard. what was hard was covering it up.

he’d locked his door, then decided to stuff pillows under his blankets for good measure. but there was still the rope to deal with.

a giant rope hanging down the side of their house was extremely obvious. if she decided to go out for a morning cup of coffee before checking in on him, she’d know. it was too risky. he’d have to find another way out.

the obvious choice was the front door, but that would involve too much crawling around- not to mention that his dog might start barking. it was even riskier than his first option.

he’d just have to go without a rope.

sure, it’d be easy for someone of his stature. he was tall, and in fairly good shape. he was just a little bit... perturbed by heights. it was no big deal, honestly. he just had to...

\----------------------

turns out, parties were even worse in rhode island. it was no longer a social gathering by the time he got there (riding a bike at night was more difficult than he expected), but a group of teenagers who were way too young to be drinking throwing up on brendon’s lawn and passing out on the porch.

based on brendon’s scholastic social status, he figured that the “little get-together” he threw would be a lot less “little” than he was making it out to be. 

however, he stood corrected upon seeing that the couple of wine drunk football players were the only ones there besides brendon himself. he pushed his way past a two jocks kissing next to the door, thanking a god that he didn’t believe in his mother was never going to know he was here. 

brendon was crushing up some sort of white pill with an amazon gift card when tyler walked in the door. his nose crinkled.

“classy,” he said, making himself know. brendon looked up and smiled.

“you made it!” he said. tyler shifted uncomfortably. “oops, sorry.” he put the gift card down and stood up.

“thanks,” tyler said. “i mean, you can- i’ve just never-“

“you’re a good ol’ god-fearing christian from the heart of texas, and nobody ever told you that you’d be exposed to The Bad Stuff this soon?” he was mocking tyler’s accent, but it wasn’t cold. he giggled. “y’know, ‘the bad stuff’ is actually pretty good.”

“i...” he shook his head.

“don’t worry, i’m not going to corrupt you or anything.” he chuckled. “it’s fun to see you at a loss for words, though. it’s new.” 

tyler opened his mouth to protest. at that very moment, a girl wearing an oversized t-shirt walked into the living room. she smiled at brendon, who curled his lip in disgust.

“aw, jesus, jenna. can’t you and debby go five minutes without ruining our couch?” he asked. the girl, who tyler assumed was jenna, raised her eyebrow.

“oh, don’t worry, we stayed off of your gross basement couch this time,” she said. brendon visibly relaxed at that. “but you might want to wash your bedsheets.” tyler’s jaw dropped. brendon gagged.

“you- i- WHAT?!” he stood up and dashed out of the room. jenna was laughing her head off. 

tyler stood in awkward silence and avoided eye contact with her. during any other situation, he would have gladly introduced himself and hoped to have made a good impression. but given the dim lighting, smell of vomit and nicotine, and the fact that she had clearly just had sex with someone threw him off a bit. he silently prayed that bren would come back soon. 

luckily, he did, dragging a giddy red-headed girl behind him. she was firey, he could tell. one of those bright-flamed people that scared him so. brendon was one, but his stupid goofy grin and hair that was obviously styled-but-not-washed made him much less intimidating. 

“jenna!” she squealed and jumped onto the other girl, kissing her as they landed on the sofa where brendon had sat as he crushed up a pile of pills. 

“god, when are you two gonna move in already so you can stop doing that whenever you see each other?” debby grinned, not turning away from jenna as she spoke.

“soon as jenna gets out of school,” she said. “mom will only tolerate me for so long, and we’ve got our eyes on an apartment already.” she sat up, ignoring the groan from jenna as she put all her weight on her legs. “who’s this?” she asked, looking at tyler. he smiled weakly.

“uh, tyler joseph,” he said.

“ah, a southern boy, eh?” she wiggled her eyebrows at brendon. “i didn’t know you had a type!” 

“we’re not together,” brendon said, chuckling. tyler raised his eyebrows.

“yeah, i’m not about to lower my standards for you.” jenna howled with laughter at that. 

they did that for a while, making small talk. tyler would occasionally crack a joke and get an over-the-top reaction from the three. turns out alcohol makes everything funny.

“why don’t we play spin the bottle?” jenna suggested. tyler’s eyes widened and he put his hands up.

“uh, no thanks.” brendon grinned evilly. his teeth were really, really white. they looked frightening in the dim light.

“tyler joseph,” he said. “have you never been kissed?” tyler’s ears flushed. that would be the second time tonight brendon caught him off guard. jesus christ.

“i- yes, i mean no, i....” he took a deep breath. “no, i’ve never been kissed. it’s no big deal.”

“you kidding me? it’s a huge deal! you’re in high school, how many girls have you ever been with? at least four, right? and you’ve never kissed any of them?” he huffed.

“i have never had a girlfriend, i’ve never been kissed, and i’m a virgin. why don’t you shove me in a locker before i do it myself?” he asked. the fire in brendon was brighter now. his sass was officially being used as a defense mechanism. and it wasn’t working.

“no shit,” he said. “you’re messing with me. you HAVE to be messing with me. have you at least been with a guy?” 

“...a guy?” tyler asked. he’d never even considered that. 

don’t get him wrong, he’d never been against gay people. lord, seeing his mother throw a hissy fit when gay marriage was legalized in the states filled him (and that didn’t even count indigenous reserves) with enough rage to know that he’d always support them.

but being... an actual member of the lgbt community? it never even struck him. until now, that is. he’d never been attracted to women, and he did seem to be oddly drawn to josh-

“dude, you okay?” brendon was looking at him funny. so were jenna and debby. he closed up the rip in his nonchalantness that everyone saw and straightened up.

“no,” he said. “i don’t like boys.” 

\----------------------

tyler got his first kiss from jenna black on brendon urie’s couch. he was seventeen years old, and her breath smelled like stale beer. and she was a lesbian. 

he pulled away from the kiss after a quick peck to the lips. jenna didn’t seem offended, and no one was looking at him funny. yet, his head was spinning and a small stone sat at the bottom of his stomach. he stood up. 

“i’m gonna step outside for a sec,” he announced. brendon nodded at him. 

“i feel you. tell josh to join the family when you see him,” he said.

“josh is here?” tyler asked. but no one heard him.

\----------------------

josh was holding a pack of cigarettes. he was picking one apart with too-short nails, letting the excess tobacco either fall onto brendon’s porch or drift off into the wind. tyler inhaled and walked up to him.

“can i bum a smoke?” he asked awkwardly. josh startled, then looked him up and down.

“you don’t smoke,” he said matter-of-factly. tyler shrugged. 

“my gramma passed away last year because of lung cancer. i don’t touch ‘em. just needed a conversation starter.” 

josh looked away. they stood in an awkward silence. josh sighed and pulled out a lighter to haphazardly light the obliterated cigarette in his hand. tyler watched with fascination as he blew smoke out into the air. 

“why are you being so nice to me?” josh asked. 

“oh, uh... you seem nice, and-“

“cut the crap,” josh interrupted. “i’ve been nothing but rude to you. why are you being nice to me? huh?” 

tyler searched for a reasonable answer, but was met with a metaphorical brick wall. he was stumped.

“to be honest? i don’t know.” josh blinked. “i mean, i didn’t-“

“no, it’s fine.” he said. he crushed the cigarette out against the ash tray. he stared at tyler, confused. “sorry.” 

“it’s fine, don’t worry.” josh shook his head and stomped his feet.

“no, no, no, i’m sorry.” his voice squeaked on the word ‘sorry.’ “can we start over or something?” 

tyler blinked. start over? as in, pretend that he hadn’t been avoiding him? that tyler didn’t make fun of him for having a sticker on his forehead? that they didn’t act weird and awkward around each other?

“yeah, sure.” josh smiled warmly.

“cool. okay- i’m josh,” he stuck out his pinky. tyler stared at it for a second. “you’re supposed to lock pinkies,” josh whispered. “brendon and i do it, since i don’t really like handshakes.”

“oh.” tyler locked pinkies with josh, and tried to ignore the anxiety buzzing in his palms. “i’m tyler.”

“nice to meet you,” josh said, pulling away. “i sure hope i don’t try to pressure you into skipping class and then get angry when you don’t.” tyler smiled crookedly.

“yeah, that’d be a damn shame.”

\----------------------

they weren’t “friends.” more like... mildly acquainted. 

brendon still tried to talk to him every morning, but now josh would stand with them and watch their little arguments play out. he didn’t move if they ended up seated next to each other, and if tyler smiled at him, josh would smile back.

there was a lot he didn’t know about josh. he didn’t know why he flapped his hands wildly next to his ears when someone stared at him, or why none of the teachers called on him. he didn’t know why those mean girls called him a girl, and he didn’t know why brendon was so close to him. after all, they were practically opposites in personality. 

he wanted to learn a lot about josh, though. like why his palms buzzed when they locked pinkies, how he was able to dye his hair a new color every other week, what the bands on his hoodies were. he want to get to know everything about josh, and he still wasn’t sure why.

brendon told him that he was lucky josh even showed up to the party that night. even if he didn’t come inside, josh apparently never went to social gatherings. tyler sure felt lucky. he was worried he’d have to admire josh from afar for the rest of the school year.

but, like, not in a weird way or anything.

**Author's Note:**

> i love getting comments <3


End file.
